Search

I almost completely missed the boat when Julephad an online sale last week. I managed to squeak in during the last hour when pretty much everything I liked was sold out. That was a mixed blessing because the bargain lover in me would have spent too much, and how many nail polishes does a girl really need? (Don’t answer that.)

I ended up with Popova, which looked like a Kelly green color in the photo on the website, but much darker in person. It was a TrinaTurk Fall 2012 color for $4. NOT a summer color, especially since I currently have on the neon coral Reign in Spain Color Club polish from my June Birchbox. Btw, that polish was a big hit hanging poolside with 8 girls with cocktails + dancing @night at the JW Marriott resort in Palm Desert last weekend. Fun with the girls!

I was in the mood for a $5 chunky necklace, so for $9 total I got a green nail polish a fun necklace and a sample packet of Rock Star hand cream! Small splurges are easily justified.

June’s budget is totally blown. All my little makeup purchases, trip to Palm Desert last weekend, plus trip to San Francisco first and last weekend of June to take the MAT Jump Start course. I opted to skip next month’s Julep Maven sub box. That $20 is going towards gas for this weekend!

Yeah! I ordered my first Total Beauty Box! The Revlon Collection box is $15, but you can get 20% off by using code TBC20 or RETAILMENOT20 and pay only $12 + free shipping. This box is still available!

Look how colorful it is! The Long Wear nail polish in Trade Winds looks like it will be a cool skin tone color. Fancy.

Revlon Lip Butter in Sorbet (top, fuscia color) and Pink Lemonade (bottom, baby pink color). Love Sorbet for my skin tone. Pink Lemonade doesn’t really show up much more than my natural lip color, so I will only use it in place of chapstick like a tinted balm, or maybe give it to my paler-skinned younger sister. Man o man these feel soo nice and buttery. Sorbet is totally the kind of lip color I’m drawn to. My First lip butters, yay!

I have to say how surprised I am that the Color Stay 16 hr eyeshadow quad in Sea Mist has decent color playoff. I was expecting more chalky, transparent color application. Granted, these are definitely not Urban Decay quality shadows, but good enough that I will actually use this quad. These colors all have a satin sheen, and you can probably tell that the top left color looks like a charcoal grey on my skin, but more like indigo/violet in the palette. That’s okay, I might try using that color as a liner.

I had to give in and try out this collection. “It’s only $12,” I told myself. I think it’s worth it. The eyeshadow quad is $8.49 at CVS, and the lip butters are $7.99 each, plus $7.99 for the nail polish. That’s about $32.50 + tax!

I probably will never use the pale Pink Lemonade lip butter, though. Too bad, but still a good value box. Remember to use a coupon code if you order here!

A seasonally appropriate Eco Emi box ($15/month) arrived today with its contents wrapped in a star spangled bandana with multi sized red, white & blue metallic star confetti. There is a separate postcard with photo suggestions how to use the banana, I’ve already lost it, though! This is the kind of personal touch that you don’t get in other subscription boxes.

You can’t tell from this photo, but the Beanitos chips have already been opened and scarfed down. They were a little spicy, just how I like it!

Here’s a close up off the All Natural Face Lip and Cheek cream in Peachy Rose and the Purely You Minerals Vegan Bronzer. The lip and cheek cream really is an all around usable shade for every day. The bronzer powder is just a touch darker than my skin tone with only a hint of shimmer. This is almost the exact opposite of the NYX “bronze goddess” color I got in myIpsy Glam Bagthis month. Thank goodness. I will have to try this out, though there is a concern with it being a loose powder it could get a lil messy. I am starting to really like these mineral makeup samples I’ve been getting in my Eco Emi and my Beauty Box 5 monthly boxes

In addition to the four items mentioned so far, my box also contained:Badger Cuticle Care shea cream,Surf Sweets Gluten free gummy bears,Nelson’s Pure & Clear cleansing wipes,Desert Essence Coconut hand and body lotion, andOrganic wheatgrass heirloom seeds (24 seeds, enough for a 6″ pot.) Coincidentally, my boyfriend and I have started juicing in the morning 2 days ago and these little “liquid sunshine” seeds should grow pretty quickly to add some wheat grass to the new routine.

Eco Emi is one of my favorite subscriptions. It is a lesser known subscription box brand, they don’t have much activity on their Facebook page like the other big name boxes. The focus is on eco friendly items, usually two or three makeup/beauty items, one or two food items, two or three bath/body items, plus other products equaling 8-10 items per box. Check them out if you are into more natural ingredients in your products. A lot of these items I have only found at Whole foods, this is a great way to try out brands you may not see in bigger stores.

They are having a sale right now for $15 you can get one of their past boxes as a single purchase, not a recurring membership. I think they are selling them until they sell out! Check it out here

I immediately took the loose mineral shadow to my bathroom sink and added just enough alcohol to cover all the powder. Let it set for a few hours, the excess alcohol will evaporate and leave behind a solid shadow, much more manageable to use, less messy than a loose shadow.

Here’s a close up after it dried. It has a pretty pink iridescent sheen. I’m going to wear this one to work tomorrow!

I saw BB5 got some flack on Facebook for including a Brazen shadow again and Coolway brand products two months in a row. The Brazen shadows are totally wearable for everyday and they feel like silk, no complaints here. OMG the Coolway hair product from last month is the best thing that has happened to my hair !!! I get it, it’s more exciting to get different brands, but I would personally be grateful to receive moreCoolway products.

If you check out Coolway’s Facebook page, they are having a special discount when they launch their new website in a couple of days. I think it’s 25 or 35% off. I want to buy more of the Coolway spray that reduces blow drying time, regularly $25+ 4.99shipping.

With my yearly membership, each box comes to $8.33 – so far I have loved everything I’ve gotten in my 3 months of Beauty Box 5 (referral link – free box for every 5 people you refer). I haven’t used the tanning products, though, but everything else has been worth it so far. The Aveeno in this month’s box is great to toss in my purse or travel bag, too!

My June glam bag FINALLY arrived. I think it was lost for a while, but I had faith it would find its way home. My neighbor ordered her first Ipsy bag this month, we kept tracking our orders and they were suppose to arrive at the same time. Nope. Mine decided to keep me in suspense almost a week longer!! It totally killed the thrill since I thought I knew what I was getting since I could see it online when I logged in to my Ipsy.com account. Plus, they did a sneak peak of everything this month, what happened to the mystery of a monthly subscription? Haha I guess it’s my fault for stalking their Facebook and other blogs for hints, but I didn’t think they would give it all away, sheesh.

Yeah! Animal print bag with neon zipper! I was in too much of a hurry to take individual photos of each item, but at this point everyone else has already received their bag and posted photos off what they received, I feel like this is the tall end of this month’s Ipsy excitement.

I have to say I was hoping to get any other color than the NYX Cream Blush in Bronze Goddess. Apply this color lightly out it will look like a dirty tan. I like the cream texture, though, it does blend easily without having to mash your face with pressure, know what I mean? I thought about wearing this over the weekend, but it’s redundant to wear bronzer if you’re in the sun anyway, getting darker without product that will probably wash off in the pool. Ilk be wearing sunblock. I just don’t think I will ever use this NYX Bronze Goddess Cream Blush. Oh well, can’t win them all!

The Starlooks lip pencil in Bare I traded with my neighbor; she got the color Tipsy which is a pinkish coral color. Bare was too dark for me. It looked blue-ish lavendar on my lips, nit “bare”. I would’ve never used it, glad I traded!

Loving the Ivory Lace Chella highlighter pencil!!! This is awesome to use as a brow highlight, I have been wanting something like this. This bad boy is going to be used up for sure!

I saw the pictures in my “glam room” on Ipsy’s website and I thought I was getting the Cailyn Gel Fix Liner with built in brush in purple (!!!) But I got the color Iron. It’s like a pewter grey with a metallic glint. Oh, how smart! Built in brush attached to the handle off the container! Ooo, like that. I’ve seen this in other reviews for other subscription boxes and it gave me box envy. I am thinking this gel liner is coming in my bag with me this weekend. I will need a sturdy eyeliner for Saturday night! Hmm, the black Xtreme Lashes liner I got in Glossybox has really great staying quality, too. It will be a tough decision. Or do I pull out my liquid Urban Decay color liners?? Must decide!

The J Cat Sparkling Cream Glitter Palette in Volta is an interesting idea, but this had to be targeted at a clubbing type, I bet most people will never use this other than to swatch the colors. It’s basically 5 different colors of glitter but with the glue built in! Maybe I can put it on all the girls this weekend. There will be 8 co-workers with me in Palm Desert this weekend at the Marriott resort for a girls only trip. Poolside all day tomorrow, dinner and dancing at night. That’s what glitter was made for, right?

Because I referred friends to subscribe to Ipsy I got an additional item in my bag this month. Last month the extra item was an Urban Decay eyeshadow, this month it was an o ring bracelet from Bubble Bar with a unique 20% off coupon code (sorry, I will be using this one). It’s cute, it feels way nicer in person than it looks in photos.

Okay, even though I was bummed about the blush color, who am I kidding thinking that I needed another blush anyway. This month’s Ipsy bag was a score! the Cailyn Gel Liner and the Chella highlighter pencil are sooo worth more than the $10 paid for my subscription. I am loving Ipsy more and more, this is only my 3rd month so I hope they keep it up!

If you haven’t tried Ipsy, I highly recommend you get a subscription here.

It doesn’t seem like such a big deal to me that their logo and box are a little different than before. The mailing box is still pink, the wrapping paper inside is still pink. The website color changes and all the complaints made it seem like everything changed to square and black. This is still a cute little box.

My favorite item was the Eyeko skinny eye liner in Navy. It is a long felt tip liner pen in liquid navy blue. This is my new best friend – it makes the perfect wedge at the corner of my eyelid. No sharpening needed! Pen, not pencil. No smudge, long lasting. Cool.

2nd favorite is Reign in Spain neon coral colored Color Club nail polish. I’m so glad I got this color, it was the only one of the 4 options that I actually wanted. I was worried I was going to get the cream color similar to the bleh Zoya polish I received in last month’s Ipsy bag. I was already planning out which shadow pigment I was going to mix in to change the color! Reign in Spain is going to make its debut on my nails for the girls trip to Palm Desert next weekend. Can you say poolside at the resort any better than with a bright nail polish twinkling on your toes?

Okay, so I caved. I have been eying this all month. It’s a great deal to try two colors of Revlon’s lip butters that all the bloggers everywhere have mentioned at least once. Sheesh, talk about feeding the need! I found a coupon code: RETAILMENOT20 for 20% off the Revlon collection, so it is only $12 to buy this collection, no tax or shipping charge!!